1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information recording apparatus and an information recording method which are suitable for recording information onto a rewritable-type recording medium such as a DVD-RW (DVD-Rewritable).
2. Description of Related Art
In the field of optical disc, there is a tendency that the recording density is increasing. A DVD is an optical disc that meets such a need of increase in the recording density. By compressing image data by the image processing technique called MPEG2, image and voice data corresponding to a movie can be recorded on a single DVD disc. Nowadays, a DVD for reproduction only in which a movie is recorded is put on sale. In that DVD for reproduction only, video data and audio data are recorded in accordance with a recording format called “DVD-video”. Therefore, by reproducing the DVD for reproduction only by a DVD player in conformity with the DVD-video format, the user can enjoy the contents such as a movie.
Recently, a rewritable-type DVD such as a DVD-RW is broadly used. On the DVD-RW, information can be rewritten for about a thousand times. The user can use the DVD-RW instead of a conventional VTR and record video and audio data of the television broadcasting programs or the like onto a rewritable-type DVD such as the DVD-RW.
When recording the television broadcasting program on the DVD-RW on the real-time basis in accordance with the DVD-video format, the video data and audio data as well as the recording control information, constituting the program, are sequentially recorded, on the real-time basis, onto the recording area of the DVD-RW. The management information associated with the video data and the audio data is temporarily recorded onto a predetermined area of the DVD-RW.
Specifically, when recording a television broadcasting program on the DVD-RW by a DVD recorder, the video data and audio data constituting the program are recorded on the DVD-RW as one or a plurality of VOBs on the real-timebasis. When the recording of that program is ended by the user's instruction, a VTSI which is the reproduction control information necessary to reproduce the recorded VOBs is recorded. Thus, the program is recorded on the DVD-RW disc as a single title including one or a plurality of VOBs, the VTSI, and backup information of the VTSI.
However, until the user finalizes the DVD-RW, VMGI (Video Manager Information) which is the management information of the recorded video data and audio data is not recorded on the DVD-RW. For this reason, until the DVD-RW is finalized by the instruction made by the user, temporary VMGI that temporarily manages the information associated with the title recorded on the DVD-RW is recorded on a predetermined area of the DVD-RW. The temporary VMGI includes the number of the VTSs recorded on the disc at that time, information on the disc name, physical locations of the VTSs for a predetermined number of the titles, title names and so on.
Until the user finalizes the DVD-RW, the contents of the temporary VMGI are changed and repeatedly recorded on the predetermined area every time a new title is recorded. When the user finalizes the DVD-RW, the temporary VMGI is recorded on a predetermined position as the VMGI. Thus, the finalized DVD-RW becomes in conformity with the above-mentioned DVD-video format like the DVD for reproduction only, and the recorded titles can be reproduced by a DVD player for reproduction only.
However, repeated recording of the temporary VMGI onto a predetermined area on the DVD-RW may cause the read-out errors as the recording frequency increases. While the DVD-RW is basically produced to be resistant to the data rewriting for about thousand times, if the user repeatedly records the TV broadcasting programs on the DVD-RW like the manner of using the conventional VTR, the temporary VMGI is rewritten quite frequently. As a result, the recording surface may be deteriorated and the possibility of the read-out errors increases. When the read-out error of the temporary VMGI occurs, the management information indicating, for example, the titles recorded in that DVD-RW cannot be obtained, thereby causing a trouble in reproduction.